<p id=”par-1_62″>According to Dolly Parton, she was never more than friends with Porter Wagoner. She was married when she <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-said-working-porter-wagoner-disaster.html/”>joined Wagoner’s show</a>, and denied ever having romantic feelings for her longtime musical partner. Still, some people believed Parton and Wagoner’s relationship was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-revealed-surprising-way-husband-reacted-rumors-affair-porter-wagoner.html/”>more than just professional</a>. Many viewers of <em>The Porter Wagoner Show</em> responded with outrage to some of Parton and Wagoner’s behavior.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-some-fans-did-not-like-the-way-dolly-parton-and-porter-wagoner-behaved-on-his-show”>Some fans did not like the way Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner behaved on his show</h2>
<p id=”par-2_52″>Parton and Wagoner’s witty rapport and series of romantic duets fueled rumors that they were having an affair. While some people believed the pair were a married couple, others thought they were crossing a line with their behavior. When <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-felt-humiliated-advertising-this-product-the-porter-wagoner-show.html/”>the pair advertised</a> a laundry detergent on the show, people responded with outrage.</p>
<p id=”par-3_62″>“Why does television carry that Breeze commercial with Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner?” wrote one viewer in a letter, per the book <em>Ain’t Nobody’s Fool</em> by Martha Ackmann. “They are not married to each other, but at the end of the commercials she says, ‘the towels we use.’ They act too intimately towards each other. It is disgusting and so are they.”</p>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-width=”550″ data-dnt=”true”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>My first appearance on the Porter Wagoner Show was on this day! So many amazing memories made during that time <img src=”https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72×72/1f90d.png” alt=”🤍” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> <a href=”https://t.co/crUphqSUgT”>pic.twitter.com/crUphqSUgT</a></p>— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) <a href=”https://twitter.com/DollyParton/status/1434562135191957509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 5, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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<p id=”par-4_9″>Parton was well aware of people’s complaints about her.</p>
<p id=”par-5_15″>“[People thought] I was Porter’s whore or something,” she said. “They didn’t take me seriously.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-some-people-believed-that-porter-wagoner-was-in-love-with-dolly-parton”>Some people believed that Porter Wagoner was in love with Dolly Parton</h2>
<p id=”par-6_17″>Parton denied ever having romantic feelings for Wagoner. Many people believed he felt something for her, though.</p>
<p id=”par-7_84″>“The main reason Dolly had such a hard time disentangling herself from Porter is because he was in love with her,” a journalist told Alanna Nash in the book <em>Dolly: The Biography</em>. “Porter was really torn up over losing Dolly. <em>Really</em> torn up. Because he really did love her, and I don’t think he’d ever been in love with anyone but himself. And about Carl Dean, well, you know Porter was the main man in Dolly’s life all the years she was with him.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_14″>Even Parton admitted that Wagoner’s feelings for her could have been <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-admitted-porter-wagoner-love.html/”>more than platonic</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_30″>“Maybe he <em>was </em>in love with me,” she said. “But it was a love of its kind. It was not a love that could ever be shared, if he was.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-he-warned-her-husband-about-potential-rumors-before-she-joined-the-show”>He warned her husband about potential rumors before she joined the show</h2>
<p id=”par-10_53″>Wagoner said he knew from the moment he met Parton that she would be <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/porter-wagoner-found-dolly-partons-voice-irritating-first-heard.html/”>the perfect addition</a> to his show. Before he offered her the position, though, he wanted to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/porter-wagoner-talked-dolly-partons-husband-rumors-cheating.html/”>speak to her husband</a>, Carl Dean. In their conversation, Wagoner warned Dean that viewers might speculate that he and Parton were romantically involved.</p>
<p id=”par-11_19″>“We all agreed we didn’t want that to happen,” he said, per the book <em>Smart Blonde</em> by Stephen Miller.</p>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-width=”550″ data-dnt=”true”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>On this day 46 years ago, I said goodbye to The Porter Wagoner Show. So many beautiful memories <img src=”https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72×72/1f495.png” alt=”💕” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> <a href=”https://t.co/5mhPzfqDuZ”>pic.twitter.com/5mhPzfqDuZ</a></p>— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) <a href=”https://twitter.com/DollyParton/status/1230273394760978437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 19, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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Dolly Parton Admitted Porter Wagoner’s Temper ‘Scared the S***’ Out of Her </a>
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<p id=”par-12_36″>Of course, their intentions didn’t do much to temper the rumors. Still, Parton said Dean never felt threatened by the rumors that she was cheating on them. They cropped up more than once over the years.</p>